Don't Fear The Reaper: Rectified
by Lala Lotsalove
Summary: Stiller is a shunned reaper determined to earn her freedom. Thrust into Kirigakure no Sato she must accomplish the task set before her by the Goddess Matsuro, and survive the world of shinobi. But her past is troublesome and problems ancient. OC/Mystery
1. Prologue

Don't Fear the Reaper

~ (Rewrite) ~

Prologue

**I don't own Naruto.**

When I first opened my eyes, it was filled with a pure light. It was whiter than I believed was possible and for a moment I suspected I was blind. There was nothing there, only white. Slowly, I sat up, or at least I think I sat up. My body was numb, and to be honest my mind was blank, except for the pondering the white around me. My head turned slowly, but the view didn't change.

"Welcome,Stiller." The voice echoed slowly and I wasn't sure which direction it came from, so I turned my head back to its original forward position...Stiller? Was that my name? I couldn't remember well...anything. But this voice welcomed me as Stiller, Reaper – 4128 and from that moment forward Stiller I remained.

That time in purgatory was eventful for me, that's when I first met Enn. Enn the Head reaper, a young boy of 10 or at least that's how he appears. Hooded and cloaked in black he stood barely above 4 ft and his penetrating silver eyes stood out against pale skin. I could faintly see silver hair underneath his hood.

After that day, I became what is known as a reaper, a guide for the dead.

XxX

I glared at the goddess who floated before me, Enn by her side watching with his emotionless gray eyes. I winced and stared up at my own hands, shackled by the Goddess's soul energy to the side of her white palace. The goddess was beautiful, her long blond hair twisted into a dutch braid and her blue eyes sparked with anger. But just like a blizzard, she was both beautiful and cruel.

"Answer me, Stiller!" She screamed and I dropped my head, allowing my chocolate brown hair to hide me. "Answer me! Who is your Master!" She screeched and I couldn't help but think that for a divine creature she held more rage then she should.

This was the goddess I served? One that condemns love? I thought gods and goddesses were supposed to respect their disciples and love them as they loved subjects, to be understanding and kind. Tears of black blood dripped from my green eyes and everything became a haze as I wallowed in self pity. Silence fell as my black blood streamed from my eyes and fell onto the face of one of the other reapers in the crowed. Through hazed vision I met his eyes.

Kalin, he was called.

We worked together on the roads between Jashin's dimension and Purgatory, the Goddess Matsuro's dimension. I suppose it was my dimension too...although now I was ashamed to admit it. He was not only a fellow reaper, but the man who taught me everything I know and hold dear as well. Don't get me wrong, I had committed a crime and when I gazed into his cold onyx eyes I expected to see nothing but contempt and disgust, as showed on all the other reaper's faces. It surprised me to find them filled with pride and...something close to a plea.

A plea for what?

Then I remembered as his voice flooded my head, something he had said to me many years ago after I had slain my first demon. '_I can feel it child, someday you will dare to do something great and some people will not like it. They may even try to break your spirit. Your mind is your own dimension, you are the goddess of it and only you hold power there. Meaning only you can decide what is wrong and what is right. Let no one tell you otherwise. Never let them. Hold you pride...and your tongue.' _

The whip, made of raw soul energy, hit my bare skin again, cleaning flesh from bone. Though I was reaper and it would heal quickly, it hurt just the same. I simply stared at my black blood, bathing the emotionless and enraged audience below, enraged with me. Matsuro was suddenly a mere inches away, her nose almost touching mine.

"Who is your master!"She ground out, her hair flaring out. My oily blood dripped onto her ivory silks but she paid it no mind. I held my tongue. The whip clashed against flesh again, more pain, but I continued to hold my tongue. I could not die, a gift from him and for some reason I found myself...enjoying the pain. She screamed the phrase at me again, her screeching reminding me of an eagle on the hunt.

More pain, and...I began to laugh.

And I laughed.

With each lash of the whip it all became funnier.

She grabbed me by the throat, by now I was nearly naked, my clothes having been ripped away by the strong energy. I hung off the wall of her white palace, blood like oil leaking down the wall and drenching what remained of my clothing. Her hand went to my throat, halting my laughter. "Who is your master?" Her whip hung at her side dripping the oily reaper blood. I began to chuckle once more.

"Forever will I serve and love him, great god of pain!" I screamed with laughter. Shocked gasps and murmurings came from below, things like 'she's possessed' and 'she's a demon'. I was no demon; I was simply one of them with a brain and values. Matsuro recoiled, as if I had physically hit her, hissing like a serpent.

"He has tainted one of my best..." She muttered. "Damn him and his demon swine!" Then she turned back to me. "I will not kill you, for you deserve much worse wench! Stiller, former reaper of the 3rd gate, I herby sentence you to eternity in confinement. You will not speak to a soul, you will merely become a ghost in these halls and your memory will be nothing but a story. May your dreadful mistake teach future generations to honour thy goddess and to honour the Reaper Code." Then With a wave of her pale hand, she removed the shackles and I landed to the ground, losing consciousness.

XxX

I lost track of the years, that I was confined to that room. They placed gold bracelets around my wrists to keep my power in check and they had confiscated my dear Scythe, Bakuya. I was given a large wardrobe full of black silk robes, with the Jashinist symbol embroidered in red on the back as opposed to the white eight pointed star of Matsuro, something that was meant to humiliate me, but I took pride from it. I grew strong and independent.

Everyday I wrote in a small, black leather journal about my life, before confinement and during. Every day, food was brought to me, although the women that entered my chamber always wore white masks on their faces, masks with no eye holes, forcing them to use their soul energy to navigate. I gave up trying to speak with them hundreds of years ago, they all feared that wolf in sheep's clothing too much.

Although by now, it had been so long, my story was simply part of Matsuro's bible. No one was alive anymore, except for maybe Enn, who remembered watching me dangling from the side of the white palace. I wondered if I was part of Jashin's bible for my sacrifice, although I was unable to get my hands on such reading material. Matsuro ruled here, and so did her interpretation of the histories.

I had read her Matsurian version of my story and I had nearly puked at the lies they spewed. Apparently I was a jealous hag, envious of Matsuro's power. I traded my womb for power and immortality, birthing the son of a demon. In this story, I was not beautiful nor kind. They gave me not even the slightest redeeming quality. As the story goes I tricked Matsuro into believing I was her most loyal warrior, before revealing my intentions in a fit of jealous rage. Matsuro had apparently tried to reason with me, hurt, as she thought I worshipped her and only her. She gave me mercy, by placing me in this room and never stopped loving me as one of her most beloved disciples.

It was all lies! All of it! She was the hag not me! But no matter how much I wished it wasn't true, I was still a reaper and as such belonged to Matsuro. She could easily destroy my existence, but she chose not to in order to make her story more realistic and she knew that it would hurt more than dying. She also probably didn't want to provoke...him. It was getting to the point now that I wasn't considered real anymore.

I heard a pair of young reapers once outside my door pondering my existence and considering trying to take a peek. However, they were caught by their master, who asked them reproachfully what they were up to before hastening their arrival on patrol. I wanted to laugh though when I heard him muttering a prayer, begging my forgiveness. Hm, my story inflicted fear upon them I suppose.

I would often sit at the mirror and stare at my reflection. I always loved my hair, it was silky and long, falling just past my ribcage. It was also straight, with shaggy bangs hiding my forehead. I will always remember the feeling of him running his fingers through the chocolate tresses, separating the caramel streaks from the rest. I would laugh when he joked about me smelling like sundae toppings. My skin was not pale, but sort of like a mocha color. Call it vanity if you would like, but my favourite feature was my eyes. They were a soul stealing neon green, like a cat's eyes.

Being alone and silent for so long tends to create insanity and I was on the brink. I would also twirl through the room naked, there was no one to see me so what did I care? My room was large and posh, I suppose the goddess had specifically made it big and wide open to make me feel more alone. Cold white marble floors, white walls (which I longed to decorate) and a white ceiling; marred only by a white chandelier. A large white bed, the frame made of white stone and everything else made of the purest white fabrics. White curtains hung in front of the only window in my room, a window I had never once looked out of.

What was the point? All I would see was white. I hated purgatory and its white, I always had. It had to be the worst color on earth. White, the color of innocence, purity and peace. To the reapers, white was the color of Matsuro.

The color of your fate, the color of apathy and the color of death.

XxX

I had just stepped out of the bath and dressed in my black robes when the large white door opened, revealing a group of young reapers. They wore no masks, and looked upon me with a mixture of awe and reproach. There was silence as we regarded each other. There were four of them, probably only about 50 years old. 3 young men and a young woman.

You could tell they were reapers in training because they all had the same cropped locks, minus the girl, whose hair was bobbed and then pulled back for extra measure. Not only that but they had not yet earned their scythes, seeing as they carried none with them. The braver looking boy stepped forward.

"We were sent by the great goddess Matsuro. She wishes to speak with you." I stared at him for longer than I probably should of, causing him to shrink back.

_The great goddess Matsuro_, I thought with malice.

XxX

She stood in front of a large window and the light that bounce off the white walls were beginning to make me sick. She turned to me slowly. "Enn's scythe has been stolen." She said abruptly. "Go and retrieve it and I will release you from your punishment. You can go wherever you wish after that...even to him." I paused, my breath catching in my throat.

_Even to him._ Her voice echoed in my mind and she eyed me like a predator. She knew that I would fall to those 3 words. "Will you do it?" I blinked at her, in a daze. I fell to my knees, looking up at the woman I hated more than anyone else, my lips dry from shock.

"Yes."


	2. Fragile Freedom

Don't Fear The Reaper

Rewrite

~Chapter 1~

Fragile Freedom

Kirigakure no Sato was slowly failing. They had always been a strong village full of strong ninja, and they still were. However corruption from within was causing decaying trust amongst the people. The citizens no longer trusted the ninja of the village and the ninja no longer trusted each other. Despite that, their pride refused to let them admit their problem with insubordination. But just because they wouldn't admit it, doesn't mean it wasn't becoming painfully obvious to other villages.

"We need to remind them we are strong!" The Mizukage ground out as he turned on his heel to glare at his advisors. The 3 elderly men jumped slightly. The Mizukage was a young man, slim and tall with pale skin, violet eyes and short silver hair. A single scar, stitched over, ran from under his left eye to his chin. He was dressed in the traditional Mizukage robes, minus the hat which sat idly on his desk. For the most part he was a generally very monotone man but Mizukage-sama was also known for his short spurts of uncontrollable temper.

At first the advisors didn't know what the glare was for but they quickly caught on when the Lord slammed himself down into his office chair, looking at them pointedly. It was up to them to fix this problem. Instantly they began babbling out stupid ideas that made no sense. This went on for about an hour, before the Mizukage became fed up with the terrible ideas.

In a fit of rage, the hot headed man kicked his desk across the room, it collided against the opposing wall, and spun towards the window where he began to observe his village. Papers scattered across the room and his hat slowly wafted to floor as well. To be honest he felt defeated. What could he do to show the village's strength and distract the other villages while he put everything back in order?

"Leave." He breathed out, placing one palm against the window and leaning into it. He almost wished it would break and he would fall to his death. Things had not been working out well for him lately. He heard the scuffling followed by the gentle click of the door closing. Like a frustrated child he crossed his arms, pouting.

It was in this stance when his former senpai, Yerinozuka Hiro, found him. "Care to explain, Yagura-sama, why I just seen the 3 council representatives flee like mongrels?" Yagura kept a straight face. Despite being Mizukage, he always considered Hiro his senpai. The older man was rough looking, had pale skin marked up with hundreds of scars and was extremely tall (standing at 6.6"). He was quite obviously in his late 30's maybe early40's. His blood red hair was tousled, streaked with black dye, courtesy of his 2 daughters, and his hazel eyes were glazed in appearance, like the smoky glass eyes of a doll. He was dressed in the Kiri jounin outfit (grey comflauge cargo pants, slate grey vest and mid calf boots) with minor modifications such as his long sleeved mesh shirt, black arm protectors and metal plated black gloves.

The Mizukage 'tched' and turned his glare to the floor once more.

Hiro sighed, stepping cautiously into the room, making sure to close the door behind him. His steps were light and slow, suggesting he was walking up on a dangerous animal. His gaze flicked around at the state of the office. The desk had created a giant dent in the drywall and the papers would take days to re-organize.

He bent down and picked up Yagura's hat, his face stoney as always, and grasped a small pile of papers in the other. He approached the younger man and placed the hat lopsidedly on his head, before leaning against the window and observing the papers. Yagura fixed his hat while raising an eyebrow at Hiro's actions, a man who he would consider his most trusted ally. But not friend; Yagura did not have friends. They stood in silence for quite a few minutes, neither doing so much as looking at the other.

"I don't know what to do," The young Mizukage confessed "How do I prove our village's strength. I'm trying to find a way to kill two birds with one stone and I-" Hiro interrupted him, flipping through the random collection of papers idly.

"Have you been stewing over this so long, Mizukage-sama, that you have been neglecting your mail?" Yagura turned to look at the other man who had discarded a few papers back onto the floor and now only held two items. In the left hand he clutched a package; in it he could see traces of passports. They were chuunin exam registration papers, from Konohagakure no Sato. The other hand held a suspicious letter, from Sunagakure no Sato.

XxX

The sun was setting over the horizon, casting the feint orange glow across the field. The glow stopped short of a forest, which was almost like a wall. The trees grew together so closely, it created a thick barrier.

All but one tree.

A large silver maple grew only a foot or so in front of the others, but it was enough to make it stand out. It was in this tree Kumiko Hanadeka sat, formerly known as the Reaper 4128 - Stiller. She sat on one of the abnormally sized lower limbs, one leg dangling idly off the branch. Rosy lips curled into a tiny, satisfied smile as her hand emerged from the sleeve of her shirt, a bright red apple in her palm. She puffed on it, green cat eyes lighting up as she rubbed it across her shirt. Satisfied it was clean she brought it towards her mouth, almost drooling as the feint scent hit her nose.

"Kumiko-nee!" The apple was halted, a mere inches from her salivating mouth.

Cautiously, the 13 year old glanced down, trying to keep her face monotone. Inside though, she was boiling. Below her was a little brunette pig-tailed girl, with big ocean eyes and pale skin. She appeared only around the age of 5, but had this little knowing glisten in her gaze. She was dressed in a simple, light red dress with a black, long sleeved shirt underneath and similarly colored ninja sandals.

"What Rini-chan?" She asked calmly, still eyeing the apple.

"Mama sent me to get you! Mitsu-chan and Takeo-kun are here to see you! They said something about...dinner with your sensei!" Then the little girl turned and scampered off, brown pig-tails bouncing happily.

Yes, this is where Stiller had ended up on her search for Enn's scythe. She wondered why the ancient and powerful reaper hadn't gone searching for his own scythe. She didn't question this aloud however, she was glad to have her freedom. Of course, as free as an ancient reaper disguised as an orphaned, adolescent girl could get.

After arriving in this world, Stiller had remained invisible to all living beings. So she used the oldest and sneakiest of reaper tricks, she took over someone's body.

Flashback

_It was the middle of winter, and Stiller stood in the middle of the street in her new set of Matsurian robes. The eight pointed star adorned her back, as well as a choker, almost like a collar, that Matsuro had placed around her neck. It was black leather, and whenever she had ill thoughts about Matsuro, the metal star would burn her entire being. _

_That left her with but one choice, fulfill Matsuro's wish and retrieve Enn's scythe._

_She observed people as they walked through her, sizing each and every one up. _

_She needed to find a body...but where? What body should she look for? It would have to be young...she must blend in and age, so the younger the body the better. That way she could age without getting to old too soon and having to switch bodies. She would prefer it be female...she would be a very poor man. Preferably someone no one would miss...someone no one knew or cared about..._

_Just then, a young girl limped passed. Stiller watched her go, taking in the haggard appearance. Her catlike pupils widened, revealing her predator instincts. Dirty brown hair, frail sun burnt skin, her ribs visible beneath the rags she wore. A street rat. Not only that but the girl's soul energy was fading...meaning she didn't have much time left anyway. Stiller smiled, this would be easy. She clenched Bakuya (returned to her by Enn himself), the scythe practically vibrated with the soul energy that coursed through it. Slowly, one menacing step in front of another, she followed the girls retreating form into an alley. _

_Her robes dragged across the ground as she turned a corner, stopping at the edge of the alley. The setting sun, if she had been real, would have casted her shadow over the young girl who was settling into an old crate near the end of said alley. She watched as the girl yanked the nearly frozen blankets over herself. She approached, eyeing the girl. Fever tainted her face, causing beads of sweat to form, although Stiller knew the young one was anything but hot. She was probably freezing cold._

_Fever._

_Closing her eyes she positioned herself in front of the girl, drawing Bakuya. Her eye snapped open and she spoke ' Girl, wake up.' The soul of the little girl lifted from the body. _

"_Who..are you?" She heard the girl ask. Stiller forced a friendly smile. _

"_Do you want the pain to end?" The girl glanced back at her body and nodded dazedly. "Then close your eyes." There was something about reapers that made people with average souls trust them, only those with intensely strong souls could resist. To this very day, hundreds of years after the fact, it still baffled Stiller. The girl's eyes closed and Stiller allowed Bakuya to do its job. The girl's soul was sliced in half and sent to be judged by Matsuro and Enn. _

Flashback – End

Of course along with inheriting the body she had also received with it the girl's ill health. She had suffered through the fever for over a month, until springtime. Being a soul that was technically no longer alive, her soul would not leave the body unless it was forced out or she chose to leave it. After awhile her new body shaped until she carried her natural genes; cat eyes, mocha skin and chocolate brown/caramel hair.

The only people she had to fear were monks, and what monk did she ever encounter? OH, yeah...never mind. It was a monk that had saved her from the streets of the cold Kirigakure in early spring, placing her in an orphanage. Stiller had been absolutely terrified, but it turned out he was one of the many monks that had fallen from grace – meaning he no longer believed in Kantis, Jashin and Matsuro.

His allegiance lay with some non-existent entity known as Buddha*, although she did come to admire this Buddha's principals. It was also this priest that had named her Kumiko. He said, it meant eternally beautiful child. After being placed in the orphanage, she was soon adopted by the Hanadeka family. They were the patriarch and matriarch of the Hanadeka branch clan.

Raidou was his name. He was a fine Shinobi of the village and very kind hearted. An example being that even after he found out his wife, Nariko, couldn't have children, he chose to stay with her. This was of course despite his father - the clan head, Lord Ronin's, protests. Nariko and Raidou had turned out to be wonderful parents, something Kumiko had never experienced as Stiller.

She also did not remember receiving such love before she was a reaper, something that had been bothering her since she technically became human again. Ronin however, was not a man she wished for a Grandfather. He strived for ruthless excellence and believe it or not she had begun to worry for the other adopted child of the family, Rini. Not that the child was weak, but she did not display talent.

Ronin had become this world's Matsuro to her, a vile being who seeked to control everything around them.

The wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves and busting Kumiko out of her reverie. Sighing, she hopped down to the ground before taking a long, savoury bite of her apple. Stiller a Reaper once punished and imprisoned by Matsuro, was now Kumiko Hanadeka a Genin of Kirigakure no Sato.

"Ya know something?" She said to the bird that had landed in the branches just above her. It screeched in response, tilting its head and blinking beady black eyes. It was a falcon, usually considered a symbol that one has a relationship with a higher power. "This feels goooood~" She purred, smiling and wandering away to find her teammates. Behind her the falcon's eyes flashed red, though she didn't seem to notice.

Unbeknownst to her, Enn's childish and cryptic voice sounded from the bird's beak. "_Do not forget your task Stiller, I'm waiting..._"Startled at the mental intrusion the bird squawked frantically as its eyes returned to normal and flew away into the sky, it's panic echoing around the forest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

*No offense to Buddhists. I simply meant that's the way Kumiko/Stiller feels. It has nothing to do with my personal beliefs. In this story though it wouldn't really work if Buddha was real. So I had to make him not really...real. Sorry Buddha and Buddhists, I meant no offence.


	3. Team Yerinozuka

Don't Fear The Reaper

~Rewrite~

~Chapter 2~

Team Yerinozuka

Kumiko stared over at her 2 teammates sitting across from her. Her sensei was calmly sipping a cup of tea, as if he had not just said what he did. She recognized the shell-shocked expressions on both their faces and she went back to sipping her own tea. She may appear young, but inside she was very old, and something as trivial as this did not bother her. They were having a late breakfast at one of the nicest restaurants in town.

Takeo, quite an average looking boy with brown hair and eyes, finally found his voice.

"Y-you can't! That's not fair!" Mitsu, a pretty little girl, with curly orange hair and vibrant blue eyes, nodded her agreement. "I-I mean...C'mon Kumiko! You can't seriously agree to this?" She sighed, placing the tea back down and staring out the booth's window instead of looking at her teammates.

"Orders are orders." This was an age old lesson to her not only as a Kunoichi, but as a reaper as well. She slightly felt though for them, they were but children.

"Kumiko," She looked over at her sensei. He was a tall man, well built, with tan skin marred with scars, long black hair and brown eyes. Right now his eyes were narrowed on her, signalling disapproval, but she knew that it was not because of her lack of empathy. In Kirigakure no Sato, empathy was an unneeded emotion, right up there with compassion and love. Only those hard-asses that had the right amount of strength and ambition managed to survive.

"You need to show more interest in being a Kunoichi. It bothers me that you have so much talent, but you lack interest." She glared at him realizing it was true. But this ninja business was really not her thing; she really just wanted to look for Enn's scythe.

Unfortunately, she had to blend.

The last thing she wanted was to run into a Jashinist or Kantisian priest/priestess. Not to mention if she was found out by a Matsurian priest/priestess she would be locked up in some shrine and worshiped, making her task even more difficult. She didn't want to be caught unable to defend herself in this world, so she was forced to learn how to. It was...complicated, though being of older mind she was able to comprehend and utilise these new abilities faster. This made her a very 'talented' genin.

She swallowed back her frustrations along with a gulp of her tea, the words 'shut up' shining through green orbs.

"I'm very interested." She hmmd, taking a bite of her sushi, knowing she didn't sound very convincing.

"I can't believe you are disbanding our team Onami-sensei! And Kumiko," she glanced apathetically at the furious boy, "I can't believe you are fine with this. He's disbanding our team! We will no longer be genin-" Sensei shook his head interrupting Takeo.

"Hold on a minute kid! Number 1: I'm not disbanding Team Onami, the Mizukage is. Number 2: You will still be genin. The Mizukage has selected 3 other genin teams. We'll simply be mixing you all up." Takeo settled down, looking relieved, Kumiko raised an eyebrow and Mitsu still looked depressed.

"We...won't be a team anymore though..." She sounded very upset, as if something valuable had just been stolen.

"Ah, don't worry Mitsu," Takeo said throwing an arm around her, "We'll still be friends and allies won't we?" Kumiko smiled lightly at the gesture, but furrowed her eyebrows when a question came to mind.

"Sensei, what about you? Any plans once you are free of us?" Onami smiled, a huge grin. "Well, they've recalled me back to Anbu." The man was still fairly young, maybe 27-ish, and had been removed from Anbu (which was his calling) because of a spinal injury he had received.

It hadn't been all that long ago that she remembered him saying something about the doctors claiming the injury was gone. She felt happy for the man; he was a determined individual of great strength and still managed to keep an even head. Now, he was going back to the job he enjoyed the most.

"Congratulations." Was her simple reply as she slapped some money on the table and began to rise.

"Kumiko, you've been ordered to attend a meeting at noon. Mizukage Building, meeting room 7. Don't be late." She nodded with her usual solemn air before exiting the restaurant.

XxX

Kyoia Satoshai was considered punctual.

Never early, never late. Simply, punctual.

She was currently on her way to the meeting, where she would arrive in precisely 10 minutes if she continued on her steady pace. Being easily distracted, a good way to keep her mind on her current task was to read, as unusual as that sounds. So here she was, a book in one hand (just a random text she'd stolen from her father's library) and twirling a kunai lazily in the other.

It was a book on symbolism which had become very interesting.

"_NIGHTINGALE - a plaintive mother, symbolizes the human goal of producing truly melodious language. The name of the bird stands for poetry or song. The parents patiently teach their young to sing. It is a good omen. Some, however, interpret it as a cry for help from a 'poor soul in purgatory' or a plaintive warning of an __**impending death**__. It also symbolizes acts of charity being rewarded."_She read quietly.

Her nose twitched as she passed a food stand which the powerful aroma of Niku Dofu* and Beef Sukiyaki* flowed from. She paused for a moment, the book lowering and her eyes sliding towards the scent. If there was one thing Kyoia loved, it was protein. She glanced up at the sun, slowly rising to the peak in the sky and bit her lip, letting out a wide grin soon after.

She snapped the book shut, shoving it in her kunai pouch. As she made it to the counter she ran her hand through her knee length black hair, then she stopped and stared for a moment at the singed ends of one of her purple strands. She growled slightly as it became her turn to order, stupid Aniki and his Katon* jutsu. Realising it was her turn she focused her attention excitedly at the man before her. He suddenly appeared very afraid at realising who it was.

"L-Lady Satoshai? Wh-what brings y-you here?" She rolled her eyes.

"Your Niku Dofu of course, what else?" Her irritation at the stupid comment caused the man to flinch back and nod repetitively. She crossed her arms with a huff, like a stubborn child.

She understood why the citizens were scared of the Satoshai family, they were a mean bunch of Shinobi, but why were they so afraid of her personally? She'd never done anything to them! I mean sure she was the heiress but...Pushing the maddening thought away she growled, causing other customers to shrink away and an infant to cry. She snapped her glare to it and it silenced itself abruptly. An angry Satoshai was not something you wanted to be around, even babies knew that. The Satoshai was a dangerous clan with a ridiculous amount of natural strength and short fuses, not a good mix. Her wait was definitely cut in half as she received her food and sat on a nearby bench, readying her chopsticks.

As she pushed the food into her mouth her eyes once again traveled to the sky. She had 20 minutes and she was only 10 away. Her eyes widened suddenly as someone settled beside her before narrowing her eyes.

Only one person would dare.

She turned to glare at the arrogant ass beside her.

"Slow down, you pig." The cool voice slipped from his lips and she snapped her chopsticks in half.

"I'm not fat, bat-brain. Look and see for yourself...oh, wait...you can't. Sorry!" She bit out. The blind boy flinched at the low blow, before smirking.

"I may be blind...but at least I'm not stupid. You however haven't been as lucky as I, that much I can tell without having to see you." Kyoia went red in the face with rage.

Toshi Hibiki, not only a personal rival but a clan rival as well had chosen to piss her off today. The Satoshai clan and the Hibiki clan were so different they couldn't help but constantly despise one another. He resembled a Hibiki in every way, right from the silver hair and infuriatingly calm attitude. Toshi kept his headband tied over his eyes though so she couldn't tell if he carried the family's ice coloured eyes, but he was definitely a Hibiki. It was proven just by how irritated she got just by being near him.

"So..." He began and she started, not being able to mask her surprise. Was he actually attempting civil conversation with her? "The teams are being split up."

"Yeah..." Kyoia sat back, watching as a couple of excited academy students ran by. "Where are you headed?" She asked as civily as she could, eyeing her snapped chopsticks and her barely begun Niku Dofu Take-out. As she fiddled with the broken sticks trying to figure out how to eat with them, Toshi answered.

"Mizukage Tower, Noon, Meeting Room 7." Kyoia nodded and turned slowly to look at him as she heard the crinkling of a paper bag. A pair of chopsticks was removed and dangled in front of her face. She stared for a few moments before taking it, not looking forward to having to say 'thank you'. It was so rare for her to have something given to her that it was almost foreign. It took her a second to register what he had said...

"Mizukage tower...? Room...7?" Why did that sound familia-ah, oh shit. "Me too." She mumbled out before shoving the rest of her food into her mouth.

She saw Toshi smirk out of the corner of her eye, although she wasn't happy about it she was now eating next to her new teammate.

XxX

The world to Toshi had always been bleak and dark. Being the bastard child of the clan matriarch, shunned by her clan coupled with his...disability, life was never 'good'. It has been 'tolerable' and occasionally 'satisfactory', but never 'good'.

Good was for people with a stable family, good was for people like Kyoia.

He had forced himself to hate Kyoia, he didn't really hate her. Not many people knew this but she was adopted by the patriarch of her clan, she wasn't even from the Land of Water. She was born in the Land of Wind.

He himself was adopted by his half brother, the matriarch and patriarch's legal child, after his shunned mother died. He liked his brother and there was no mistake his brother liked him; why else would the sickly man make him his heir over others.

Toshi had taught himself to see people through their voices, to listen to their emotions. A person's voice will always betray the way they feel, it's just that when you can see their face you can't concentrate. You can't see to the depths.

Judging by Kyoia's voice, she was a lot like him.

More alike him then either of them would care to admit. He couldn't help wanting to be friends with someone who was as unsure about her future as he was about his. Now he was blindly following (quite literally) said girl through the streets to their mutual destination. Locking on to her footsteps and trailing behind her. Bumping into people wasn't a problem because when a Satoshai walked down the street people parted like the red sea.

XxX

Cold cat-like eyes shone in the dim of the meeting room, trailing over the other two persons. Each sat in a separate corner of the room; none anywhere near the door. A clock was ticking in a steady rhythm, cutting through the silence.

Kumiko knew these people as she had gone to the academy with them but she knew very little of them. Neither she nor the other two had ever been very popular or social amongst their peers.

Toshi was popular with the ladies because of his looks but he was very quiet making it near impossible to make a friendship.

Kyoia had a short temper and violent tendencies. Because of this it was near impossible for her to build a lasting friendship.

Kumiko was very apathetic and really had no interest in making friends. She was only supposed to be in this world until she found Enn's scythe anyway, so what was the point?

That wasn't the only thing they had in common though. They were the strongest genin the village had seen in 10 years. The door clicked and all 3 faced the new arrival.

Kumiko's breath caught in her throat, Toshi shifted and she heard Kyoia take sharp inhale.

Before them stood the villages number one Anbu Captain. Leader of the village's famous 'Head-Hunters'.

Hiro Yerinozuka.

...

***Niku Dofu** – Niku dofu is simmered meat and tofu as niku means meat in Japanese. Commonly, beef is used for this dish

***Beef Sukiyaki** - Sukiyaki is a popular one-pot meal which is usually cooked at the table as you eat. The word "yaki" means "sautee" or "grill" in Japanese. The word is used because meat is sauteed in the hot skillet. The main ingredient in sukiyaki is usually beef which is thinly sliced. Meat slices and ingredients are simmered in soy sauce based soup. In different regions of Japan, sukiyaki is cooked differently.


	4. Mission: Faith Act

Don't Fear The Reaper

~Rewrite~

~Chapter 3~

Mission - Faith Act

"Welcome Team Yerinosuka. I'm going to cut to the chase. You three have higher than average intelligence-" Hiro-san started, ignoring the comment of 'well two of us have higher intelligence' from Toshi and Kyoia's 'shut it!'.

"So you're probably wondering why we've imbalanced the once balanced genin teams." Kumiko raised an eyebrow at the beginning of the man's blunt explanation. And did he just call them 'Team Yerinozuka'. That meant this was no coincidence. These were meant to be her teammates as had been expected, but with such an ANBU captain...

She had, in fact, wondered why they placed the village's strongest genin on one team. Usually the smart thing to do is balance a team out; one with a lower score in intelligence, one with the higher score in intelligence and one with higher physical strength. That was the way they made genin teams. It was this organization of strength that allowed genin to grow and become stronger at a predicted pace.

Although she knew little about her new teammates she did know some of their techniques and it appeared they were going for a 'jounin team assembly'. This means they were forming a team the same way they would a jounin team; the tracker (Toshi), the strategist (Kumiko) and the brawn (Kyoia). They were missing a medic but as genin doing C ranked missions that isn't a necessity.

Yes, she had wondered why they were using a jounin assembly on her new team.

The room was meant for mission briefings and although dim it had a large white board on the far wall. In the center of the room was a round neutrally coloured sofa, big enough for at least 10 people.

Hiro-san made his way over to the board and turned to them with a crooked smirk, a scar on his left cheek growing with the movement. "If you'd please."

The 3 genin made their way to the couch sitting as far away from each other as possible and facing away from each other. Kyoia to the left, Toshi to the right and Kumiko chose the center; her gaze fixed ahead on her new 'sensei'. It didn't feel right, even to Kumiko who had no interest in being a ninja or loyalty to the village. The atmosphere was...awkward. All had stony looks and it was obvious none of them were sure what to make of the situation. There were so many unanswered questions.

"Yesterday the Mizukage received news that the chuunin exams would be starting soon. All participating teams are to arrive by Monday next week. The three of you are probably well aware of our village's situation..."

The three stiffened. It's true; the village's morale has legged severely since the village's defeat against Kumogakure 4 years ago, not to mention the multiple civil disagreements which ended in rough battles. Anarchists seemed to morph out of the walls and many had to be put down violently. Kumiko remembered that even genin were forced to track down and arrest, sometimes kill, the miscreants. They had to be silenced before the entire country erupted into a civil war similar to the ones they had just settled mere years before the confrontation with Kumogakure.

Strength needed to be displayed.

"And now, I present to you. Your mission..."

XxX (this description is so grade school but I feel like I have to do it...I apologize)

The three genin stood at the village gates as the sun set, splashing orange rays over the village. Waves lapped around them, creating an almost serene atmosphere.

It had been 3 days since they had become a 'team' of sorts and although they still knew little of each other; they had managed to become aware of each other's most significant moves. Kumiko had, for the most part, created battle plans and strategies that matched nearly any situation.

Presently; Hiro-sensei had expressed his fondness of traveling at night and had asked them to be there by 7:00 pm. All of them had showed up an hour early.

Well, here they were. The newly christened team 14; or Team Yerinozuka.

They were quite the group.

Kumiko stood to the left, her green feline eyes glinting with thought. They were kohled black, making them stand out against her mocha coloured skin. Chocolate hair cascading over her shoulders and down past her chest. She wore her half-sleeved light pink belly shirt overtop of a long sleeved black fishnet. Black cargo shorts had been pulled on over a pair of fishnet panty-hose. Bulky black boots, adorned with metal plates and with leather bottoms to eliminate sound were on her feet. Around her neck, not standing out against the fishnet, was Matsuro's collar.

Kumiko; The Strategist

She traced Bakuya's blade with her finger and slid her eyes over to Kyoia.

Kyoia's ink black hair was twisting in the wind, dancing around her waist and seemed to have its own life force. She was currently braiding one of the purple streaks that framed her face while her owl-like jaded green eyes scanned the horizon, pupils larger than normal. Her skin was a snow white, gleaming in the sun and she was the second tallest of the group, casting a shadow only a few inches shorter than Toshi's. Her slim, muscled frame was emphasized by her loose black halter top and her baggy black cargo pants which were held up by two violet belts which crossed her middle. She wore simple black ninja sandals and her medium sized combat fan was strapped to her left thigh, the blades within the folds slightly visible. If Kumiko could pick 3 words to describe her at this moment they would be; wild, rough and free.

Kyoia; The Brawn.

Kyoia's attention had been captivated by Toshi, who had chosen this moment to taunt her about her brain power.

At 13, Toshi was already approaching 6 ft. He towered over his newfound teammates with his well-toned, muscular but cat-like build. Short silver hair stuck up at all angles except for two long, narrow strips that fell down into his face. His eyes were covered by his forehead protector, but his smirk was still as visible as ever. His clothing was simple; a navy blue, high-collared t-shirt and dark grey cargo pants. Tight, metal-plated leather boots clung to his calves and you could clearly see the twin knives strapped to them. A black dragon tattoo spiralled around his left arm, its head stopping just short of his wrist. Strapped to his back was a katana; its sheath with silver detailing that matched his tattoo. His disposition radiated with a sly confidence and cleverness.

Toshi; The Tracker

Hiro appeared down the street, walking towards them with a stoney disposition. His jaw was set in a hard lne and his eyes were dark with masquerading dark emotions. This seemed to be his normal though, and the three new teammates understood that if this was to work they would just have to accept it. Hiro seemed to care little for greetings as he didn't even make eye contact with them; he simply glided passed them as if they weren't there. The three watched him go before nodding simultaneously and following him through the gates. As night fell the mists swirled up around them, turning them into mere shadows, they made their way steadily towards their newest destination and determined to succeed in their newest mission.

XxX

The Mizukage stood in his office, gazing over his village and a scroll clenched tightly in his right hand. The night's mists had begun to seep up from the earth and he smiled in triumph. Just moments ago they had commenced with one of their most risky missions since the raids on Iwagakure. He was confident they would succeed; he had chosen only the best and most easily blended Shinobi for this mission. He brought the scroll up to eye level;

**Mission Number: 12874**

**Name: Faith Act**

**Classification: A**

**Date Commenced: June 7**

**Status: ****CLASSIFIED**

**Date Terminated:_**

**Shinobi Assigned;**

**Hiro Yerinozuka (Captain)**

**Kumiko Hanadeka **

**Toshi Hibiki**

**Kyoia Satoshai**

**Mission Description:**

**Infiltrate Konohagakure as genin participating in chuunin exam, second wave will infiltrate as guests 3****rd**** part. Assist in invasion of Konohagakure with allies Oto and Suna. Steal 4****th**** scroll of Seishun Kyousuke. The village's power must be displayed; victory must come above all to Kirigakure. Konohagakure must be destroyed.**

**Result: _**

iroHi


	5. Kyoia in Konohagakure

Don't Fear The Reaper

~Rewrite~

~Chapter 4~

Kyoia in Konohagakure!

"Man, this sucks! We just got here and already he has somewhere else to be!" Kyoia complained, locking her hands behind her head and sighing.

They had arrived in Konoha at noon, exactly 20 minutes and 32 seconds ago, and Hiro-sensei had taken off shouting the name of their inn back to them. This left the three standing awkwardly in the middle of the street, people moving about them in all different directions. They did their best not to appear lost but to be honest they had no idea where they were.

"I vote for food." Toshi stated plainly, which invoked a fight from Kyoia about what they were going to eat.

"Ramen." She stated.

"Rice." He countered.

"Ramen."

"Rice."

"Ramen!"

"Ra...rrrr...Riiicccce."

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

"Rice~"

"Ramen."

"Okay, Ramen." Toshi said throwing the oldest trick in the book at her. Of course she fell for it...

"Rice...wait-no! Ramen! Argh! I hate you!" Kyoia screamed.

Kumiko rolled her eyes and ignored the rest of the pointless argument. Personally, she wasn't all that hungry. She would prefer a simple cup of tea and maybe some dango. Spotting a tall fence, which she figured was a good starting point, she decided to follow it. It had to go somewhere, and maybe that somewhere would have less commotion. Where there was less commotion there was usually a tea shop or better yet, a small place that sold Sushi. Anywhere but the middle of the busiest street in the village was where she wanted to be.

So she pushed her way through the crowed, faintly hearing her teammates argument which had now escalated to childish banter which made little to no sense.

"Rice is so dull. So...it suits you."

"Ramen's a mess. So, it suits you."

"I bet that's why you don't have a girlfriend. Because you're so boring and eat boring food."

"Why would my girlfriend care about what I eat? Are you insinuating she should be cooking all my meals because she is female."

"What? Where the hell'd you get that from? Don't twist my words!"

"Alright, I'll twist your words."

Kyoia could be heard growling. "Kumiko! What are we going to eat?...Kumiko? Where-hey! Wait up!"

XxX

After Kumiko had disappeared Kyoia had stomped away from Toshi and soon found herself wandering aimlessly. It had been an hour and Kyoia finally admitted to herself that she was sort of, probably, undeniably, kinda lost-ish. She didn't want to admit it though. She found herself constantly avoiding people on the crowded streets so she made a quick turn onto another less crowded road. It was weird here; she seemed to be running into people (which never happened in Kiri). She noticed people were less weary of her. At home, she and her family were infamous and people avoided them like they were diseased...well, in all honesty they were diseased in the _mental_ fashion. Sadism and Strength of body, were the two basic principles of her family and needless to say it made the Satoshai Clan the kind of people you wanted to avoid.

Speaking of running into people, as she wasn't paying attention Kyoia ran smack into a girl's back. She was about to tell the girl off (as she wasn't one for apologies) but came to the sudden realization she had just walked into a tense situation. There appeared to be two sides. On one side you had the girl Kyoia had walked into; a fair skinned, fragile looking pink haired girl about a year younger than herself. With her were 2 children (Kyoia guessed they were academy students), a blond haired boy with whisker markings wearing a lot of orange and yet another academy student, who was being forcefully held by his scarf. Kyoia shoved her hands into her pants pockets and observed the guy holding the younger boy. He was dressed all in black, with kabuki face paint and appeared to be a few years older than herself...maybe 15? Just behind him stood a blond with four pigtails and Kyoia's interest peaked when she noticed the girl's fan. She appeared to be even older than the guy by a year or so.

The girl Kyoia walked into had let out an 'ouff' noise at the contact and turned around with irritation creasing her, now noticeably large, forehead. She looked about to say something, until she realized she was not looking at someone's face, but was standing with her nose at the height of a pale collarbone. The girl's eyes wandered up to Kyoia's face and pulled a comically frightened expression. Kyoia had given her an irritated and holier- than-thou look. The girl turned back around slowly, obviously unsure what to do about the new arrival. The others had yet to notice her.

Kyoia grunted in disapproval and she watched as a comical shiver ran through the pink haired girl. This was the kind of reaction Kyoia was used to; and it pleased her to an extent. She was not, however, used to being ignored (which the rest of the group seemed to be doing). Assessing the situation more thoroughly, though not bothering to listen to their stupid verbal arguments, she noticed that it was highly immature for someone older then her to threaten an academy student. Not only that but the (poor) kid looked like he was being strangled to death.

"Hey," Kyoia interrupted and everyone except for the pink haired girl looked at her. Pinky simply flinched at her gruff voice. "You should put the kid down. Don't you think you're being immature?" She ended her sentence on a taunting note.

"Oh, yeah? Who the hell are you anyway!? You're just as much of a brat as the rest of 'em so don't go giving me orders!" Kyoia took a few steps forward now until she was standing about a foot away from the guy she'd chosen to dub 'Asshole'. This whole situation was beginning to make her a little pissy.

"Tch." She responded with a fierce glare and she rested her hand on the fan strapped to her thigh. She noticed the realization flash across the blond girl's face. So she noticed, eh? They were both wind users. Although, Kyoia had no doubt that she was stronger than the blond and at the moment it didn't matter all that much.

"Don't call me a brat, asshole. You'll regret it." His response was to growl back at her.

"Kankuro..." The blond girl warned and the tone of her voice suggested this wasn't the first time she had warned him. So asshole's name was Kankuro...

The blond boy chose this moment to but in.

"That's it! Drop him now or I'll take you apart! You got that, fool!?" He was promptly jumped on by the pink haired girl who began to scold him.

"You're annoying," Kankuro said before returning his gaze to Kyoia. "_All of you_. I don't like runts or any other scrawny weaklings. So, when a wimp like this starts shooting off his mouth...I just wanna break them in half."

At this point the academy kids were crying and the leaf genin gasped. Kyoia simply let out a groan and slid her fan out of its holster. She didn't open it, she just let it rest, closed, up against her thigh.

The blond girl sighed. "Fine. But I'm not involved in any of this, okay?"

"First I'll take care of this squirt and then I'll waste the others!" He drew is fist back to punch and Kyoia raised her fan, about to use it to block his punch. Her fan barely got up to her waist when something flew passed her head and hit Kankuro in the hand. The little boy began to fall and Kyoia caught him, standing him up (much to the boy's surprise). "Um, thanks." The boy said, looking up at her and blushing. She simply raised an eyebrow and turned to look at who had thrown the object. That almost hit her in the head, dammit!

He was dark. Mysterious almost. His black hair was cut short, spiked up at the back and framed his nicely shaped, pale face. Dark onyx eyes focused on the group below him as he lounged in a tree branch. He was tossing a pebble up and down. Her brows furrowed and she looked to the ground where a pebble sat, bloodied slightly from where it had connected with Kankuro's hand. Kyoia, was a little impressed. To stop a punch at such a distance with a mere pebble? She didn't think she could do that...although she had never tried. Pebble wasn't exactly high on the list of 'Shinobi Weaponry'.

"You're a long way from home and way out of your league." He told the foreign genin, including Kyoia. What bothered Kyoia the most was that he was classing her together with those other Genin (Suna/Sand genin she believed after studying their forehead protectors). She was a little peeved that her attempt to be helpful had gone unnoticed and instead she had been lumped together with the assholes that attack academy students.

"Sasuke!" pinky screamed. Kyoia twitched...otaku? The academy student Kyoia had helped ran over to the orange covered blond with a 'Naruto!'. He then had a discussion with the boy about whether he would be able to take Kankuro down or not. Kyoia doubted he could.

Kankuro made some kind of comment while holding his injured hand but he was ignored.

"Get lost!" The new boy, Sasuke, threatened before crushing the pebble he had been tossing.

"Hey, punk!" Kankuro yelled up at Sasuke. "Get down here. You're the kind of pesky, little snot I hate the most. All attitude and nothing to back it up." He reached behind him and brought the wrapped thing down from its position on his back. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but with the way he was talking she was sure it was a weapon. The blond wind user freaked out.

"What!? Are you going to use Karasu for this!?" _Karasu_, Kyoia waited for her instincts to scream danger, but they never did. Obviously, whatever this Karasu thing was her body didn't consider it that much of a threat. A little pissed at the events which had taken place in the last few minutes Kyoia found herself itching for a fight. Her lust for battle was going haywire and the sadism which all Satoshai's were known for made itself present. Quickly, so fast she couldn't be traced by the naked eye; she slid in front of Kankuro and his Karasu (whatever that was). Her fan had been opened now.

It was fairly large but not huge, about the size of her torso, and had a black frame and violet, ruffled fabric. Golden tassels hung from the base where her hand held a firm grip. On it, in no particular pattern, were messily painted kanji. The kanji for blood, sacrifice, victim, murder and death were among them. She felt her mouth go dry. Her normally large pupils shrink to barely visible dots in a sea of green. Her knee length hair flickered with her sudden movement and she smirked. He had her rearing for a fight, and by god he had better give her one.

When Kyoia was ready for a fight she had better get one, or she was not to be held responsible for the unnecessary bloodshed that would follow. It was unfortunately, a clan trait.

"Alright, you wanna go first, brat?" He asked her, gripping one of the loosening bandages in his free hand.

"First? You're funny...you won't make it past me." Kyoia told him with her voice a steady, humorless monotone. Just as the enraged Kankuro was about to attack a voice rang out from nowhere.

"Kankuro. Stop." All eyes snapped to the newcomer. Kyoia's gaze was full of rage. Who dared to interrupt? However, her rage seemed to form into interest as her mind began to function normally once more. How come she hadn't sensed him? He must be powerful...

She watched him, transfixed. Her eyes followed his every movement...clinging to his presence. It was strange. It was...frightening. What was it that made her so...drawn, to this person.

She stood in a daze, absently moving back to stand further behind the group. All to soon the object of her fixation moved away.

But not before his eyes locked with hers. Green clashed against teal and in a moment, they both ceased breathing. Her mind went black.

_Kyoia now stood in a rich garden. She was nearly overwhelmed by the thousands of different flowers and the sheer amount of butterflies. She pushed her way through the bushes and sighed in relief when her foot made contact with a walkway. Kyoia stopped abruptly when she saw a figure of a woman a few feet away. _

_She was dressed in a blue formal kimono which only complimented the koi pond she had chosen to sit next to. Though she was beautiful, you could clearly see her hardened intelligence and strength uncommon in women. _

_A sharp pain shot through Kyoia's body and suddenly she found herself in another's mind...the mind of the strange woman. Not only did she see and hear everything the woman did, but she felt and thought the same things as well. How peculiar._

_**Footsteps sounded on the walkway behind her and she turned see her father, brother and a strange man. Her breath caught in her throat when she seen the unknown man. How handsome! He was a masterpiece! He was tall and refined, muscular with raven hair and the most vivid teal eyes. Those eyes! Her heart raced.**_

_**Remembering her manners despite her state, she stood and bowed respectfully to the men before her.**_

_**Her father and brother had obviously not expected her to be in the garden. She guessed they had been discussing "men's matters" with the stranger. He was not of her country, Hi no Kuni, she could tell by the armor he wore. **_

_**Her father got over his shocked and cleared his throat, schooling his face into a pleasant, care-free one. A look he reserved souly for her. He spoiled her after all. Her brother kept his frustrated look and glared at her as if she was a hindrance. **_

" _**General Kin," Her father started "Allow me to introduce my daughter, Princess Arisu." Then he almost immediately changed the subject as the two young adults continued to stare at each other.**_

_Another sharp pain and Kyoia was standing where she had been before, staring at the group of people. Princess Arisu and General Kin stared at each other, just as transfixed with each other as she and the red-haired boy had been only moments ago._

_A flash of white and the image was gone. _

What was that strange vision just now? Who were those people? How strange a day dream. One moment she had been herself and the next the other woman. Somehow, she felt there was significance to what she had seen and what she had 'learned'.

She felt the urge to leave, and she did.

But not before she clashed with teal one last time.

XxX

Kyoia found the Onsen, Hidden Springs Inn, that she and her teammates were staying in and after a brief fight with the girl behind the desk (due to her still unresolved anger) she managed to learn her room number was 105. She stuck her key into the door before slamming it open. Her urge to fight hadn't died down, it was just pent up and it made her want to _hurt_ something. _Anything._

Not to mention her mission to find the onsen had been hell.

Toshi and Kumiko were already there, sitting around a tea table and munching on dango.

She must've been a sight. She had ran all the way here, gotten lost twice, and had a kid spill a shake down her top. Don't ask how that happened...it just did. Her hair was dishevelled, her face flushed with built up anger and her clothes stained by melted Neapolitan.

Kumiko snapped her head up and raised an eyebrow. Toshi, being blind, didn't seem to notice anything and continued on with his snacking.

Kumiko however, had something to see...and say.

"You look..._awful_."

"I fucking hate fucking...Fuck this place!"

"**CRASH!"**

"Kyoia...please don't break the Inn."


	6. The Sweet-Spot

Don't Fear The Reaper

~Rewrite~

~Chapter 5~

The Sweet-Spot

Team Yerinozuka stood silently outside the Konohagakure Shinobi Academy. There expressions were nearly comical.

Toshi's was blank (he couldn't see what they were 'staring' at anyway).

Kumiko's was unimpressed and quite honestly she looked annoyed with the fact that she was there at all.

Kyoia looked exhausted. She fell asleep briefly, before stumbling as she began to fall backwards.

"Well...let's go." Kumiko said in reserved tone. She began to move forward, back straight and arms crossed. Toshi nodded and followed.

Kyoia let out a yawn.

"God...remind me again why we had to wake up at 3 this morning?" She asked, her voice had slipped from lifeless to irritated and she glared at Kumiko.

"I told you both already." Toshi smirked and Kyoia pulled a dumb face.

"Yeah, well, whatever.I...I...mean..." Kyoia stuttered, now having the decency to look a little humbled at Kumiko's tone. She now realized Kumiko had told them, but she had been too concerned with the thought of sleep to pay attention. She had been scolded for such things before by her previous sensei. Not having the ability to go from life to mission was an undesirable trait in a serious Kunoichi and she can remember her father scolding her for it.

She shuddered at the thought of her father.

"We woke up at 3 so we could get last minute training done. We needed to be here by 6, so an hour and a half of training and half an hour to get ready gave us an hour to get here and get checked in." Kyoia nodded glumly.

"Now, let's go. We only have 15 minutes...we went over our training time by half an hour and we took 15 minutes too long to get ready."

Kyoia had the audacity to look impressed.

Kumiko frowned back at her. In a way she was proud with herself. She had a feeling they would go over in training so she had planned with a little wiggle room. She was a strategist, planning was what she did. However, Kyoia didn't have to look at her like she was some kind of famous feudal-era General.

She repeated her earlier actions. She didn't like repeating herself. "_**Let's go.**_"

XxX

The Konoha Academy was built like a maze.

Kumiko remembered little of the Kirigakure Academy, but she knew it wasn't as annoying to navigate as this.

She remembered the Kiri Academy was all one level and was organized by grade, starting at 1 and going to 8. Each grade area had 3 classrooms, one for each level. The levels were Average, Medium and Advanced. She and Toshi had been in the Advanced class; although neither were very social so they hadn't really known each other. Kyoia, for reasons unknown to her, had not attended the Academy.

That aside, this Academy was an excruciating mess of halls, stairways and training rooms. She had yet to see a normal classroom.

She frowned. They had wasted 5 minutes wandering this damn hellhole and they were no closer to finding their examination room. She huffed in frustration and leant up against the wall.

Kyoia mimicked her and Toshi stood stoically in the middle of the hall. Suddenly, she got an idea.

"Toshi?" She waited until he responeded with a 'hm?' before continuing.

"Is there any way you could use that strange Kekkei-Genkai of yours to locate...well...at least some people who might be able to direct us to room 301?"

He kept a blank expression but she assumed he was thinking it over.

"I can try, but that is very advanced form of it. It may take a lot of chakra." He mumbled.

Kumiko frowned. It was unfair to ask him to put himself in danger like that. They had no idea what the first exam could be. If it was an instant kill-kill thing Toshi could be putting himself at risk by waisting so much chakra.

"Don't bother. I'd rather not have it on my conscious." She told him and Kyoia groaned loudly in pure frustration.

"Listen." Toshi suddenly snapped at the two girls. They all stood up straight facing the direction they had just come from.

From around a corner emerged a team; of genin, Kumiko assumed. They were of Konoha and to be honest they were an interesting sight. The female had pink hair and looked almost fragile. The one that lagged slightly behind the rest, was male and had raven hair. He was an interesting sort; with a look that said he was always sullen. The last of them was also a boy, blond haired, blue eyed, clad strictly in orange and distinguished by whisker-like markings on his cheeks.

There was a tingle in the back of Kumiko's brain, a tingle she hadn't felt in a long time. It was so familiar.

"_Stiller," Kalin stated as they stood side-by-side in a barren wasteland. Before them loomed a giant beast. It was snake-like and ugly. Acidic saliva dripped from its mouth, melting the earth with a sickening 'sizzle' sound. The beasts soul-energy radiated a powerful feel of intense malice that tickled a small sphincter of her brain._

"_Do you feel it, Stiller? That tingle?" She nodded and she began to feel elated as she watched her teacher draw his weapon. She mimicked him._

"_That's called the 'Sweet-spot'." He explained, turning to her with a feral grin._

"_You will feel that every time you encounter one of Lord Jashin's servants. That is the feeling you will get when you meet a Demon."_

No. It couldn't be...there were no Demons in this world...

Or were there?

Suddenly, the disguised Reaper was not so sure. And even if this boy did have some affiliation with a Demon she saw no reason in pursuing him. Demon's were not her concern...her only concern was Enn's scythe. Since _**those days**_ her trained malice towards the Lord Jashin's servants had ebbed away to nothing. She held more hatred for her own people than anything else.

"Hey, it's you!" The pink haired girl exclaimed, pointing. For a moment she thought the girl was addressing her, until she realized Kyoia had attempted to tuch herself away behind her female teammate.

"Yeah," Kyoia growled "It's me. Big woop." She crossed her arms like a braty child, obviously disliking being called out.

"Kyoia, you know these people?" Toshi asked the gruff girl. He didn't like the thought of Kyoia getting friendly with ninja from other countries...especially not ninja of Konoha. Not with what they were going to do. To be honest, Kumiko didn't like it either. They couldn't afford any mess ups because of...familiarity.

"Sorta." Came the simple reply. She obviously had caught onto her team's uneasiness and sent them a reassuring look.

"We never actually got introduced. A kid they knew was getting beat up and I tried to help. I got myself battle ready and then someone...interrupted." She glared at the raven-haired boy. He noticed and glared back. They were pretty evenly matched.

"Ah, so that's why you nearly destroyed the Inn and dragged Toshi out for a midnight spar. And here I thought you two might be having...romantic relations." Of course she hadn't thought that; but she knew it would tick Kyoia off. She admitted and immature, sadistic side of her loved seeing her new female teammate steamed up.

Kyoia looked about to bite back but was interrupted by the pink-haired girl.

"W-well, I wanted to thank you. I mean, it's not every day that a stranger tries to help out...especially not a stranger from another village. I guess we were right in assuming you were here for the chuunin exams, huh? I'm Sakura, by the way, Sakura Haruno...a genin of Konoha. And these are my teammates, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha." She was obviously a little nervous but her thanks were sincere and she gestured politely to each of her teammates in turn.

Kyoia looked a little shell-shocked; like no one had ever thanked her for anything in her life. With her it seemed very possible. She stuttered for a bit before calming and smiling softly. She looked to Kumiko for permission and when Kumiko said nor did anything in protest, she looked back to Sakura.

"I'm Kyoia Satoshai. These are my teammates; Kumiko Hanadeka and Toshi Hibiki. We're genin of Kiri."

"I hate to be rude and interrupt," Kumiko started abruptly "but it seems we only have 8 minutes to get to the exam room...and if you've forgotten Kyoia; we don't know where that is."

"Oh! Um, we're headed there now. Why don't you join us?" Sakura invited the Kiri genin and her blond teammate nodded in agreement. Cheerful, wasn't he?

"Sure." Toshi agreed. He was anxious to get moving. Meeting people must have been unexciting for Toshi, all he met were voices. He had nothing to thoroughly examine or evaluate. How dull.

With that they followed the Leaf genin to the exam room.

XxX

The teams went their separate ways instantly once they entered the exam room with nothing more than a quick 'Thanks, Sakura-san' and a flicked wave. Sakura looked a bit put-out that the other team had left so quickly.

Kyoia grunted when she saw the look on the pink haired girl's face. She rolled her eyes as they walked away.

"Stupid, girl. Doesn't she know how dumb it is to try and befriend ninja from other villages? I mean, you just end up trying to kill each other. Did you see her? She acted like she wanted to be my _best friend_...it was frightening. What do you think drew her to me? I'm less than uninviting." She listened to Kyoia's rant with mild amusement. She did admit though that the girl's actions puzzled her, though she let it go much more easily than her taller, female companion.

"Who knows, Kyoia. Maybe you're just a natural predator...like a Pitcher Plant." Toshi speculated in a bored tone. Kumiko came to a stop in the middle of the room, eyes scanning each and every face.

"Uh, hey, Kumiko?" Kyoia snapped her fingers to get the other girl's attention.

"Uh, sorry, yes?" She replied.

"We've been trying to get your attention for a minute or so now...what are you looking for?"

Kumiko pulled an envelope out of her pocket, sliding a picture out and showing it to her teammates. It was of a boy their age, with shaggy short red hair and strange teal eyes.

"We're supposed to find this guy and his team...then we're going to rendezvous with them after the first part." She watched as Kyoia face pulled into a deep frown.

"I know that guy..." She said.

"You do?"

"Yeah...uh...well, sort of. I think it was his teammate that was trying to beat up that kid I told you about earlier."

Toshi opened his mouth for the first time in a few minutes.

"Way to go, Kyoia. Already making a good impression."

"Suck it, Hibiki."

The two went after each other again and Kumiko sighed. She had more important things to do then listen to the two of them bicker about whether or not Kyoia had pissed off their allies or not. What one person has done shouldn't jeopardize the entire mission so she didn't care.

She organized her thoughts.

Kyoia claimed to know the team; so at least she didn't have to worry about pointing them out when she found them. Toshi was blind...so there was no point in pointing them out to him either. That just meant the only one who had to really focus on finding them was her...

Just as the last sentence crossed her mind, as if she had summoned him, she saw the very red-head whose picture she was currently slipping back into the envelope.

He was staring, rather intently at Kyoia's back. The sweet-spot in her brain began to tickle again and she frowned deeply.

The soulless look deep in his eyes made it hard to deny.

There were in fact Demons in this world...and today she had encountered two of them.


End file.
